For the purpose of having something to hang a new open thread off, I hereby present unilluminating 15-second ads for the Liberal candidates for Stirling and Cowan, which ran during Perth news bulletins this evening.
Author: William Bowe
William Bowe is a Perth-based election analyst and occasional teacher of political science. His blog, The Poll Bludger, has existed in one form or another since 2004, and is one of the most heavily trafficked websites on Australian politics.
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Fletch! Says:
November 9th, 2007 at 1:19 am”
Wonderful stuff, Fletch! The smart money put down the binoculars a couple of months back. From here to E-Day it’s just a question of; how well contructed is the Coalition’s Firewall? ( cf. Possum archives)
Back to the start of this thread. I live in Stirling. Michael Keenan has only been interested in “local” issues – potholes in roads, graffiti, cops on the beat – since he was elected in 2004, so this ad is nothing new. I will be very surprised if Labor doesn’t pick up Stirling this time. It is a seat that has swung back and forth over many years. Libs won in ’96, Labor in ’98 and ’01, Libs in ’04, and only by 2%. Take away the Latham factor and interest rate scare tactics and that margin disappears. Labor candidate Peter Tinley is an ex SAS major now running his own business, Keenan has only worked in his family real estate business and as a party staffer. Stirling is a seat targeted by the ACTU Your Rights at Work campaign and GetUp so there is a lot of community activity below the radar. Keenan also managed to p*ss off the Ethnic Communities Council by personally abusing the president of the Council over a forum they were trying to organise. If there is any sort of swing on Keenan is gone, but won’t be missed.